une pomme à cuire = a cooking apple jumps out to me as an odd one out. You wash with a washing machine, iron with an iron and sew with a sewing machine but the apple is the one being cooked here. Is this a peculiarity of edible things or does the French just work differently to English?
Are you saying the une pomme à cuire follows a different pattern than the other examples?
une machine à laver -- a machine for washing -- a washing machine
un fer à repasser -- an iron for ironing -- an iron
une machine à coudre -- a machine for sewing -- a sewing machine
une pomme à cuire -- an apple for cooking -- a cooking apple
Bonjour Anne,
Thank you for your comments! You are correct that "une pomme à cuire" is different from the other examples. We amended the lesson to explain this particular example.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
Yes, but you don’t wash the washing machine, iron the iron or sew the sewing machine -they are all subjects of the verb introduced by à. You cook the apple, not use it for cooking something else! I’m perfectly prepared to accept that it works differently in French, but it feels to me like a category error.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level